Comite de Accion Popular (CAP), or Popular Action Committee, is a Hispanic activist organization which promotes increased legal and economic privileges for illegal immigrants in the United States. The group also opposes enforcement of border security and immigration law while blaming the problems of minority communities on alleged racism within government policy and societal structures. CAP blames the problems of Hispanics residing in the United States unlawfully on capitalism. ¹

Comite de Accion Popular is a fiscally sponsored project of the Southern Vision Alliance (SVA), a network of radical-left activists who include self-described proponents of “Black Insurgency,” supporters of the #DefundThePolice movement, and adherents to “the Black queer feminist vision.” ²

Parent Organization

The Southern Vision Alliance is a pressure group with a stated mission to “transform” the American South in accordance with radical-left ideology. The group identifies capitalism, traditional gender roles, the policy preferences of white Americans, and the allegedly continuing effects of colonization and slavery as the primary obstacles to its agenda. SVA also rejects efforts by law enforcement and government authorities to prevent extremism and violence stemming from left-wing protest movements. The group identifies food, housing, healthcare, and education as inherent rights which societal institutions are obligated to provide for all those who are allegedly unable to access or afford them. In practice, the SVA prioritizes the interests of racial and ethnic minority groups, as well as LGBT individuals. ³

Major financial backers of the SVA include the Ford Foundation, one of the largest establishment-liberal philanthropic organizations in the United States, and the New Venture Fund, an incubator for left-wing initiatives that is managed by the influential consulting firm Arabella Advisors. ⁴

Initiatives

Comite de Accion Popular has backed calls to eliminate the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, shut down holding facilities for unlawful border crossers. In June 2018, CAP activists participated in a series of protests across the United States which denounced the Trump administration for its efforts to secure the southern border and deport illegal immigrants. A CAP organizer in Raleigh, North Carolina also condemned local law enforcement coordination with ICE. ⁵

Partnerships

Comite de Accion Popular has worked with the Education Justice Alliance, which pressures public school systems to rewrite their policies to align with left-wing ideology, to prevent schools from working with federal immigration authorities. ⁶ CAP also maintains partnerships with two regional Hispanic activist groups: the North Carolina Collaborative for Strong Latinx [sic] Communities and the Southeast Immigrant Rights Network, which work with CAP and other organizations on programs to bolster Hispanic ethnic and cultural identity. ^{7 8}

Leadership

Joshua Vincent is the executive director of Comite de Accion Popular’s parent organization, the Southern Vision Alliance. He previously worked on voter mobilization Comite de Accion Popular’s for the NAACP and was a senior organizer for the Obama 2008 Presidential Campaign. ⁹

Martha Hernandez has acted as a spokesperson for CAP. In July 2018, she issued a statement condemning partnerships between local police and federal immigration authorities in North Carolina, and in July 2022, she praised North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D), for vetoing a bill intended to further law enforcement coordination on immigration. ^{10 11}

Financials

Comite de Accion Popular receives its funding, administrative support, and other resources from its fiscal sponsor, the Southern Vision Alliance, which has seen steady growth since 2015. Notably, SVA’s financial resources grew dramatically during the election years 2016 and 2020, when revenue jumped from less than $350,000 to more than $1 million and from just over $2.25 million to more than $4.52 million, respectively. ¹²

1. “Two Pandemics: A Spotlight on Sponsored Projects.” Southern Vision Alliance. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://southernvision.org/two-pandemics-a-spotlight-on-sponsored-projects/
2. “Two Pandemics: A Spotlight on Sponsored Projects.” Southern Vision Alliance. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://southernvision.org/two-pandemics-a-spotlight-on-sponsored-projects/
3. “Vision & Values.” Southern Vision Alliance. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://southernvision.org/about/mission/
4. Luke Rosiak. “Foundations Destroying American Public Education.” Capital Research. May/June 2022. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://capitalresearch.org/app/uploads/Capital-Research-2022-4.pdf
5. Kathy Durkin. “Abolish ICE, reunite families.” Workers World. July 2, 2018. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.workers.org/2018/07/38028/
6. “Protecting Immigrant Students.” Education Justice Alliance. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.ejanc.org/protecting_immigrant_students
7. North Carolina Collaborative for Strong Latinx Communities.” Accessed December 11, 2022. https://nclatinxcollaborative.org/
8. “Wellness Crew.” Southeast Immigrant Rights Network. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.seirn.org/wellness
9. “Staff.” Southern Vision Alliance. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://southernvision.org/about/staff/
10. Kathy Durkin. “Abolish ICE, reunite families.” Workers World. July 2, 2018. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.workers.org/2018/07/38028/
11. Gaul Baird. “North Carolina Governor Vetoes Anti-Immigrant Bill.” California18. July 11, 2022. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://california18.com/north-carolina-governor-vetoes-anti-immigrant-bill/5653662022/
12. “Southern Vision Alliance.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/611639641